Festive Tossed Salad with Feta

Easter Sunday. The zurek was right. I carried it to Steve and Patty's in the pot I made it in, in the back seat of the car wrapped in a towel to stay warm, and when I lifted the lid in Patty's kitchen she leaned over it and breathed in and then she said "that's it." Two words. That's it. The highest possible endorsement in this family's culinary vocabulary. I stood in the kitchen and felt something move through me that was pride and grief and love and the particular satisfaction of having done the work and gotten there.

The babka rose. Both risings, the full time each. I let the second one go an extra twenty minutes and the loaf came out with the right height and the right crumb, close-grained but not dense, and Patty glazed it and we carried it to the table and Dziadek Wally looked at it for a long moment before he said anything. He said: "like Rose's." Not "like Rose used to make." Like Rose's. Present tense. As if the bread is hers because I made it from her recipe and it carries her in it.

Matt and Kristin came from Springfield. The full family at the Easter table: Ryan and me, Steve and Patty, Matt and Kristin, Dziadek Wally. Owen and Nora in their Easter clothes, which lasted approximately forty-five minutes before they were both in their backup clothes that I had packed because I always pack backup clothes. Owen found an Easter egg behind the couch and held it up with the satisfaction of a man who has been looking for something and found it exactly where he expected it to be. Nora found four eggs and then found Owen's egg and carried it away while Owen's attention was elsewhere, which Ryan caught on video.

After dinner I sat with Wally for a while. He was tired but did not want to leave. He watched the children from his chair at the end of the table and I sat next to him and we did not say much and at one point he put his hand on my hand and held it for a moment and said: "she would be proud." I did not say anything. I squeezed his hand. That was the whole conversation and it was enough and it was everything.

The zurek and the babka were the heart of that table — they had to be, they carried too much to be anything less — but I’ve learned over the years that the richness of a Polish Easter spread needs something bright and fresh alongside it, something that cuts through and gives you room to keep eating and keep sitting and keep being together. This Festive Tossed Salad with Feta has become exactly that for us: the thing that makes the table feel complete without competing with anything on it, colorful enough to belong on a holiday table, simple enough that I can put it together while the babka is doing its second rise.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 8

Ingredients

8 cups mixed salad greens (romaine, spinach, and arugula blend)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup seedless cucumber, thinly sliced
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
1/2 cup roasted red pepper strips
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts or sunflower seeds
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, minced garlic, and oregano until well combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Prepare the greens. Place the mixed salad greens in a large serving bowl. If preparing ahead, keep the greens dry and refrigerated until ready to serve.
Add the vegetables. Scatter the cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, red onion, olives, and roasted red pepper strips evenly over the greens.
Add the feta and nuts. Sprinkle the crumbled feta cheese and toasted pine nuts or sunflower seeds over the top of the salad.
Dress and toss. Drizzle the dressing over the salad just before serving. Toss gently to coat everything evenly without breaking up the feta too much.
Serve immediately. Transfer to a serving platter or serve directly from the bowl. This salad is best dressed and served right away so the greens stay crisp.

Nutrition (per serving)

Festive Tossed Salad with Feta — The Easter Table That Rose Would Have Loved